Key Distribution Protocols Based on Extractors Under the Condition of Noisy Channels in the Presence of an Active Adversary

Abstract

We consider in this paper the information-theoretic secure key distribution problem over main and wire-tap noise channels with a public discussion in presence of an active adversary. In contrast to the solution proposed by ourselves for a similar problem using hashing for privacy amplification, in the current paper we use a technique of extractors. We propose modified key distribution protocols for which we prove explicit estimates of key rates without the use of estimates with uncertain coefficients in notations $O,Ω,Θ$. This leads in the new conclusion that the use of extractors is superior to the use of hash functions only with the very large key lengths $\ell$ (of order $\ell>10^5$ bits). We suggest hybrid key distribution protocols consisting from two consecutively executed stages. At the fist stage it is generated a short authentication key based on hash function, whereas at the second stage it is generated the final key with the use of extractors. We show that in fact the use of extraction procedure is effective only at the second stage. We get also some constructive estimates of the key rates for such protocols.